1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:01,920
Speaker 1: The volume.

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,320
Speaker 2: The NBA playoffs are heating up, and so is the

3
00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:10,080
Speaker 2: action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of

4
00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:13,760
Speaker 2: the NBA with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,

5
00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,880
Speaker 2: and so much more. Don't miss out as the NBA

6
00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,840
Speaker 2: postseason winds down, so lots of great odds for the

7
00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,400
Speaker 2: second round. If you still think the Nuggets are gonna

8
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:23,960
Speaker 2: come back and beat the Timberwolves, you can get them

9
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,520
Speaker 2: right now at plus one oh five. Thunder MAVs starts

10
00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,560
Speaker 2: here shortly, and if you like the MAVs to win

11
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,760
Speaker 2: that series, you can get them at minus one oh five.

12
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:33,800
Speaker 2: And if you're new to DraftKings, you gotta check this out.

13
00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:38,159
Speaker 2: New customers bet five bucks to get one hundred and

14
00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,160
Speaker 2: fifty in bonus bets. Instantly download the DraftKings Sportsbook app

15
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:46,760
Speaker 2: now and use code hoops that's h oops, that's code

16
00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,880
Speaker 2: hoops for new customers to get one hundred and fifty

17
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,720
Speaker 2: in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only

18
00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,920
Speaker 2: on DraftKings. The Crown is yours gambling problem called one

19
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,440
Speaker 2: eight hundred Gambler or in West Virginia, visit www dot

20
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 2: one eight hundred gambler dot net. In New York, call

21
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,880
Speaker 2: eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text hope

22
00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,200
Speaker 2: and why to four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut,

23
00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,840
Speaker 2: help us available for problem gambling call eight eight eight

24
00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,199
Speaker 2: seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG

25
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,000
Speaker 2: dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino

26
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,040
Speaker 2: and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus age varies by jurisdiction.

27
00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,559
Speaker 2: Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty

28
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:36,200
Speaker 2: eight hours after issuance. See dkang dot co, slash bball

29
00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:41,600
Speaker 2: for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources.

30
00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:53,800
Speaker 2: All right, welcome to hops tonight here at the Volume.

31
00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,760
Speaker 2: Happy Wednesday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having

32
00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,080
Speaker 2: a great week so far. Got a jam packshow for

33
00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,920
Speaker 2: you guys today. We're gonna get both of tonight's game

34
00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,840
Speaker 2: to the Boston Celtics close out the injured Cleveland Cavaliers

35
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,360
Speaker 2: to advance to the Conference finals. I thought Jason Tatum

36
00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,839
Speaker 2: was absolutely amazing down the stretch of that game after

37
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:10,359
Speaker 2: Cleveland made a little bit of a run to get

38
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,280
Speaker 2: it close in the early fourth quarter.

39
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:13,519
Speaker 1: We're gonna break that game down.

40
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,040
Speaker 2: The Dallas Mavericks go into Oklahoma City and amend their

41
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,400
Speaker 2: ugly loss in Game four at home to take a

42
00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,000
Speaker 2: three to two lead. Luka Doncic plays one of his

43
00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,160
Speaker 2: best games of the postseason. We're gonna break that game down,

44
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:26,760
Speaker 2: and then at the tail end of the show, we're

45
00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,680
Speaker 2: gonna hit about ten to fifteen minutes of mail bag questions.

46
00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,240
Speaker 2: I have Paul, our lead producer here, he's gonna be

47
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,640
Speaker 2: tracking you guys in the chat. So drop some mail

48
00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,960
Speaker 2: bag questions in the chat and Paul's gonna send them

49
00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:39,800
Speaker 2: to me, and then we're gonna hit them at the

50
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:41,880
Speaker 2: tail end of the show. You guys know the drill

51
00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,160
Speaker 2: before we get started. Subscribe to a brand new YouTube channels.

52
00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,320
Speaker 2: You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me

53
00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,240
Speaker 2: on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't

54
00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,440
Speaker 2: miss youw announcements, don't forget about a podcast feed wherever

55
00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:52,560
Speaker 2: you get your podcast under Hoops tonight, and then keep

56
00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:54,679
Speaker 2: dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments and we

57
00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 2: keep hitting them throughout the rest of the postseason. All right,

58
00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,160
Speaker 2: let's talk some basketball. So Luka Doncic bounced back, had

59
00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,200
Speaker 2: an amazing game tonight. You know, I said about Jamal

60
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,520
Speaker 2: Murray after Game two, there is a tendency like this

61
00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,840
Speaker 2: is kind of like the inner battle that every competitor

62
00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,600
Speaker 2: tries to have, right when things aren't going your way,

63
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,200
Speaker 2: there's a natural part of you behind the scenes that

64
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,960
Speaker 2: will try to look for a reason, Yeah, well I

65
00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,359
Speaker 2: did this yesterday that messed up my routine. Or oh

66
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,200
Speaker 2: I'm dealing with this injury that's kind of preventing me

67
00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,640
Speaker 2: from having that little bit of explosiveness. Or oh my

68
00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,959
Speaker 2: teammates aren't doing this, or my coaches aren't doing that,

69
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:30,880
Speaker 2: or the refs aren't letting me do this. It's kind

70
00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,400
Speaker 2: of human nature, right, and you know, part of that

71
00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,200
Speaker 2: competitiveness is fighting against that and finding a way to

72
00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 2: be great anyway. And like that's the thing, Like with

73
00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,000
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray, there were a lot of reasons why you

74
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,560
Speaker 2: could have pointed to that game to shit show, right, Like, oh,

75
00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,120
Speaker 2: Minnesota's playing great defense, he's getting hacked and fouled all

76
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,840
Speaker 2: over the court. Obviously, he just came out of a

77
00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,880
Speaker 2: difficult series with the Lakers, and now he's dealing with

78
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 2: this calf injury. There's all these reasons, right, But the

79
00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,920
Speaker 2: problem is is Game three is still two days later?

80
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,880
Speaker 2: You know, Well, for every other series, obviously for that

81
00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:03,960
Speaker 2: series he got a little bit of a longer break.

82
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,960
Speaker 2: But that's the thing with Luka Doncic situation. Had a

83
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,400
Speaker 2: really rough Game four, right, more turnovers than made field goals,

84
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,160
Speaker 2: was on the floor seemingly all night long, was really

85
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,839
Speaker 2: really accentuating his injury in terms of his body language,

86
00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,120
Speaker 2: was constantly complaining to the referees, and it's like, yeah,

87
00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,960
Speaker 2: but guess what Game five is on Wednesday, So you

88
00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,320
Speaker 2: just gotta find a way. And one of the big

89
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,000
Speaker 2: things I talked about after that game is like cutting

90
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,239
Speaker 2: down on mistakes, right, Like, so much of what makes

91
00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,960
Speaker 2: a basketball player effective is decision making. And so even

92
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,840
Speaker 2: when you're banged up, if you just really focus in

93
00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:45,720
Speaker 2: on handling ball pressure soundly, being more diligent about avoiding

94
00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,800
Speaker 2: some of the aggressive defensive things that Oklahoma City can do,

95
00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,360
Speaker 2: and just read the floor and do what Luka Doncic

96
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,760
Speaker 2: is better than most people at, which is playing half

97
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,919
Speaker 2: court surgery. If you just do that, your decision making

98
00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,320
Speaker 2: will rise to the surf and we'll carry you through.

99
00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,960
Speaker 2: Then you'll build confidence and rhythm, and then it won't

100
00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:05,880
Speaker 2: matter that you're moving at eighty five.

101
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,719
Speaker 1: Percent of whatever your normal level of mobility was.

102
00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,120
Speaker 2: I thought it was abundantly clear from the opening tip

103
00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,400
Speaker 2: of this game that Luka Dancich had a different level

104
00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,120
Speaker 2: of focus. I thought that he was way less worried

105
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,920
Speaker 2: about the officials, way less worried about whatever jank defense

106
00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,280
Speaker 2: lou Dort was playing, way less worried about whatever was

107
00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 2: going on with him physically or whatever. He just was

108
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,919
Speaker 2: focused on the game, and I thought he was magnificent.

109
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,240
Speaker 2: It reminded me a lot of that bounce back from

110
00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,760
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray in Game three against Minnesota, in the sense

111
00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:37,640
Speaker 2: that like, you can take a look at all the

112
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,000
Speaker 2: excuses and run to the bank with them and find

113
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:41,640
Speaker 2: out it's not going to help you win the series,

114
00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,560
Speaker 2: or you can confront all those excuses, focus on controlling

115
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,560
Speaker 2: what you can control, and just find a way to

116
00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,279
Speaker 2: be better. And Luca did that in a big way tonight.

117
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,040
Speaker 2: He had less than half as many turnovers as he

118
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,000
Speaker 2: did in the last game, hit a bunch of big

119
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,480
Speaker 2: momentum shots, had doubled the number of madefield goals finished

120
00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,760
Speaker 2: with thirty nine or thirty one to ten and eleven

121
00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,760
Speaker 2: only three turnovers, was plus thirteen in his minutes. Just

122
00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,520
Speaker 2: a dominant performance, big thing that was standing out to me,

123
00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:08,960
Speaker 2: especially early in the game. And this is something that

124
00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,480
Speaker 2: Luca does better than basically everybody in the league at

125
00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:11,800
Speaker 2: this point.

126
00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:13,160
Speaker 1: As a perimeter player.

127
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,000
Speaker 2: Jokic, I think is a similar level passer, but it's

128
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,360
Speaker 2: obviously a different type of offensive initiation than what Luka

129
00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,120
Speaker 2: Dancic does. But Luca's really good at reading all three

130
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,560
Speaker 2: levels of the defense. And when I think about the

131
00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,680
Speaker 2: different levels of the defense, the first level is the

132
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,560
Speaker 2: point of attack, that's the guy who's guarding on the basketball.

133
00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,560
Speaker 2: The second level is whatever the screen defense is. Right,

134
00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,040
Speaker 2: So if there's a ball screen from a big man,

135
00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,400
Speaker 2: it's usually gonna involve some form of drop coverage, hedge,

136
00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:40,440
Speaker 2: or blitz, right, Like, it's either gonna be a blitz

137
00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:42,400
Speaker 2: or a hedge, or it's gonna be high drop or

138
00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,680
Speaker 2: a low drop, a catch atge, something along those lines, right,

139
00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,440
Speaker 2: all those different coverage ideas. Maybe a switch if you

140
00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:48,960
Speaker 2: throw it in there. Right, If it's a guard to

141
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:50,800
Speaker 2: guard screen, it's either gonna be a switch, or it's

142
00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:52,840
Speaker 2: gonna be a hedge in recover or a blitz.

143
00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:53,800
Speaker 1: Right like those are.

144
00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,640
Speaker 2: That's the second level of the defense is reading who's

145
00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,360
Speaker 2: involved in the action, meaning if it's a two man

146
00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,080
Speaker 2: action or three man action, whatever, those two or three

147
00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,560
Speaker 2: defenders reading what they're doing. The third level of the

148
00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,719
Speaker 2: defense is the back line, and almost always the third

149
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,720
Speaker 2: level of the defense is going to have an advantage situation. Right,

150
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,960
Speaker 2: It's almost always going to be like a guy in

151
00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,200
Speaker 2: the dunker spot and a guy in the weak side

152
00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:18,920
Speaker 2: corner with only one guy guarding him right, or the

153
00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,880
Speaker 2: roller will get behind and it'll be like just the roller,

154
00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,680
Speaker 2: the low man and the shooter in the corner. It's

155
00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,120
Speaker 2: almost always a two on one. And the reason why

156
00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,080
Speaker 2: most defenses are willing to concede that is the simple

157
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,280
Speaker 2: fact that most passers can't make those reads. The majority

158
00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:34,880
Speaker 2: of the guys in the league can read that first

159
00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,080
Speaker 2: level of the defense. That can the good ones can

160
00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,239
Speaker 2: read the second level of the defense. Only the great

161
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,040
Speaker 2: ones can read that third level of the defense. And

162
00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,240
Speaker 2: I just thought between making beautiful skip passes to the

163
00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,240
Speaker 2: corner to Derek Jones Junior, who was hot at the

164
00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,200
Speaker 2: beginning of this game, to finding the vertical spacers between

165
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,200
Speaker 2: Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively and Derek Jones Junior himself

166
00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,560
Speaker 2: just constantly finding reading that back line defender, that lowman

167
00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,960
Speaker 2: and identifying like, oh, he's glued up to the corner shooter. Well,

168
00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,360
Speaker 2: this guy's cutting along the baseline. I can throw the lob. Oh,

169
00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,120
Speaker 2: he's more geared up to stop the guy cutting along

170
00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,560
Speaker 2: the baseline. Well, my skip pass to Derek Jones Junior

171
00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:10,160
Speaker 2: is open there.

172
00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:10,600
Speaker 1: I thought.

173
00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,760
Speaker 2: He just did an excellent job of that half court

174
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,360
Speaker 2: surgery that we're talking about. It is a big time

175
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,800
Speaker 2: bounce back game from Luka Doncic. Really, the ebb and

176
00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,280
Speaker 2: flow of this series on the Dallas front has mostly

177
00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,080
Speaker 2: come down to Luca's play. He got badly outplayed by

178
00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,400
Speaker 2: Shay in Game one, they lost. He got badly outplayed

179
00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,600
Speaker 2: by Shay in Game four. They lost. Every other game

180
00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,920
Speaker 2: of the series, Luca's been able to at least either

181
00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,120
Speaker 2: play that even or win that matchup, and it's gone

182
00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,600
Speaker 2: Dallas's direction. That's the responsibility and the expectation that comes

183
00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,280
Speaker 2: from being one of the best players in the league

184
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:43,800
Speaker 2: and being the best player on a team that has

185
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,480
Speaker 2: real championship expectations. Luca passed a big test tonight on

186
00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:51,240
Speaker 2: the road to two series against an elite, physical, pain

187
00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,280
Speaker 2: in the ass perimeter defender in Lou Dort. So shout

188
00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,319
Speaker 2: out to Luca, big game from him. Derek Jones Jr.

189
00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,400
Speaker 2: He was a big part of their early start. You know.

190
00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,080
Speaker 2: I was talking about this yesterday with my buddy Sam Vassini.

191
00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:03,640
Speaker 2: We were texting about it, or two days ago we

192
00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,720
Speaker 2: were texting about it. I think Derek Jones Jr. Is

193
00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,360
Speaker 2: probably the best veteran minimum signing in the.

194
00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:09,960
Speaker 1: League this year.

195
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,240
Speaker 2: The other guy that you'd be looking at is Kelly

196
00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,800
Speaker 2: Ubray with the Sixers, and he obviously had more scoring pot,

197
00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:16,280
Speaker 2: but I just don't think he's as good as a

198
00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,840
Speaker 2: perimeter defender as Derek Jones Jr. And he's a little

199
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,920
Speaker 2: bit more willing to stay on script, while Kelly's a

200
00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:24,040
Speaker 2: little bit more willing to kind of like freelance and kind.

201
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,000
Speaker 1: Of hijack possessions.

202
00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,800
Speaker 2: And so I'm not I think Kelly has also been

203
00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,160
Speaker 2: a very good veteran minimum signing, but I think Derek

204
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,360
Speaker 2: Jones Jr. Has probably been the best veteran minimum signing

205
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,360
Speaker 2: in the league this year. And again that's a shout

206
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,080
Speaker 2: out to Dallas's front office because to put it simply,

207
00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,319
Speaker 2: when you're operating on the margins the way teams like

208
00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,760
Speaker 2: Dallas are. When you go all in on a trade

209
00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,000
Speaker 2: for a guy like Kyrie Irving, when you go all

210
00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,160
Speaker 2: in again for the Gafford PJ.

211
00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,880
Speaker 1: Washington deal, you basically.

212
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,240
Speaker 2: Have to nail all of those little fringe types of

213
00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,120
Speaker 2: moves right. And getting a guy like Derek Jones Junior

214
00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,880
Speaker 2: at a veteran minimum salary was an absolute home run.

215
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,400
Speaker 2: And he's now one of your five best players. He's

216
00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,080
Speaker 2: one of the guys you're leaning on in a big

217
00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,080
Speaker 2: way in these environments. I think he's done an outstanding

218
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:08,920
Speaker 2: job guarding Shake Gilds as Alexander in this series. He's

219
00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,720
Speaker 2: been able to convert spot up possessions both by knocking

220
00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,640
Speaker 2: down three point shots and slashing into the paint. He's

221
00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,840
Speaker 2: got that vertical spacing piece that we were talking about earlier.

222
00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,960
Speaker 2: Luca just always has an eye on where Derek Jones is,

223
00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,840
Speaker 2: has a really good feel for the timing of Derek

224
00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,600
Speaker 2: Jones's footwork when he jumps, and so Luca always seems

225
00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:29,840
Speaker 2: to get him the pass in the absolute perfect spot.

226
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,160
Speaker 2: Those of you guys who have played basketball and are

227
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,920
Speaker 2: athletic or have been playing with real athletes. You know,

228
00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,000
Speaker 2: that lob throwing, it's like you either kind of can

229
00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,040
Speaker 2: do it or you can't. There's that famous clip that

230
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:43,920
Speaker 2: was going around in game I think it was Game

231
00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,760
Speaker 2: two or three where Jalen Williams was making fun with

232
00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,480
Speaker 2: his teammates of Shay for being a bad lob thrower.

233
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:51,679
Speaker 2: And I think Isaiah Joe might have made a joke

234
00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:53,800
Speaker 2: about how he's bad at passing in general, but like

235
00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:55,560
Speaker 2: that's the thing, Like lob passing is kind of an

236
00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,400
Speaker 2: art and Lucas just amazing at it and you can

237
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,800
Speaker 2: tell he's got the chemistry with all of their vertical spacers.

238
00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,760
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City's youth, I think has been showing in a

239
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,480
Speaker 2: big way in this series, and again there are examples.

240
00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,439
Speaker 2: I think youth is winning in a lot of ways

241
00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,320
Speaker 2: in this postseason, but not youth in the early twenties.

242
00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,760
Speaker 2: It's mainly been youth in the older twenties that have

243
00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,120
Speaker 2: been thriving. It's been the guys that are in their prime,

244
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,080
Speaker 2: the twenty six to twenty nine years old that have

245
00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,160
Speaker 2: been kicking the shit out of the early to mid

246
00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:28,400
Speaker 2: thirties veteran stars, right and but Oklahoma City is very,

247
00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,480
Speaker 2: very young after Shay, and I think what you're seeing

248
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,000
Speaker 2: in a lot of cases is bad decision making in

249
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,240
Speaker 2: intense environments, which is a typical kind of thing that

250
00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,000
Speaker 2: you can see with young basketball players. They struggle to

251
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:45,280
Speaker 2: slow themselves down when the intensity gets to a certain level.

252
00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,000
Speaker 2: The big thing that's been standing out to me in

253
00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,760
Speaker 2: this series is bad rim decisions. And I'm gonna start

254
00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:51,319
Speaker 2: by giving you guys a couple of stats because I

255
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,520
Speaker 2: think these two stats will drive this point home. Coming

256
00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:59,680
Speaker 2: into tonight, the Oklahoma City Thunder in this series have

257
00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,040
Speaker 2: been generating just sixteen wide open threes per game. Remember

258
00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,320
Speaker 2: that's the defender at least six feet away. They're shooting

259
00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,120
Speaker 2: well on them. They' shooting forty four percent on them.

260
00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,840
Speaker 2: Got some bad luck on those tonight, couple of huge

261
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,120
Speaker 2: ones that Keason Wallace missed, and again he hit the

262
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,280
Speaker 2: big ones in the last game, So that's kind of

263
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,400
Speaker 2: the nature of making miss basketball. But they're not generating

264
00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,000
Speaker 2: nearly as many. They're only generating sixteen per game in

265
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,120
Speaker 2: this series, not counting tonight. Obviously the stats haven't updated,

266
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,080
Speaker 2: but they were averaging twenty three per game in the

267
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,080
Speaker 2: regular season, that's a time and a half as many.

268
00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,360
Speaker 2: So to put it simply, you're experiencing like a thirty

269
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,160
Speaker 2: percent reduction in the wide open threes that you're generating,

270
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,360
Speaker 2: in large part because you were forcing shots at the

271
00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:40,960
Speaker 2: rim against rim protection.

272
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,199
Speaker 1: Here's the other stat to drive that home.

273
00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,240
Speaker 2: They shot sixty eight percent in the regular season in

274
00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,720
Speaker 2: the restricted area. That's a really good number. They're shooting

275
00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,760
Speaker 2: fifty eight percent in this postseason at the rim.

276
00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,240
Speaker 1: It's so much just.

277
00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,360
Speaker 2: Like getting worked up and trying to confront problems with

278
00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,120
Speaker 2: youthful exuberance and athleticism when so much of this type

279
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,480
Speaker 2: of basketball is about take a deep breath, slow down,

280
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,400
Speaker 2: and take advantage of the easy shots.

281
00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:11,240
Speaker 1: That are available to you.

282
00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:13,400
Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about Jason Tatum here in a minute,

283
00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,360
Speaker 2: who had, in my opinion, his best game of the

284
00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,720
Speaker 2: postseason tonight and just did an unbelievable job picking apart

285
00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:20,800
Speaker 2: the calves down the stretch of that game when they

286
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,880
Speaker 2: started to get it close. And the beautiful thing about it,

287
00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:24,880
Speaker 2: we're gonna get into the details here in a minute.

288
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,440
Speaker 2: He did it with easy reads like it wasn't like

289
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,600
Speaker 2: he was like deeply manipulating the defense. He was taking

290
00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,800
Speaker 2: advantage of easy stuff that was in front of him.

291
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,240
Speaker 1: That is what wins at this level.

292
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,880
Speaker 2: It's all about the guys that can slow down, read

293
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,400
Speaker 2: what's happening in front of them and make decisions. And

294
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:47,880
Speaker 2: a lot of Oklahoma City's youth has been flashing in

295
00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:51,319
Speaker 2: that regard in this series because they're just so rushed

296
00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,240
Speaker 2: and they're forcing things. Ironically, because we're going to go

297
00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:56,840
Speaker 2: back to Tatum and the Celtics here, it reminds me

298
00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,080
Speaker 2: of the Celtics Bucks series in twenty twenty two. If

299
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,200
Speaker 2: you guys remember that Bucks team had no Chris Middleton

300
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,520
Speaker 2: and so they had no Chris Middleton and no PJ. Tucker,

301
00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,880
Speaker 2: two guys that were really important in the championship run

302
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,680
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one, right, and so it put a

303
00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,360
Speaker 2: substantially larger shot creation responsibility on Giannis and Tennecompo and

304
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,040
Speaker 2: Drew Holliday when you put him in that big of

305
00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,440
Speaker 2: a usage role, can fall apart in terms of his efficiency,

306
00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:21,520
Speaker 2: which he did. And so that was a series the

307
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,160
Speaker 2: Celtics should have won in like five games. But a

308
00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,600
Speaker 2: big reason why that series got dragged out. Part of

309
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,080
Speaker 2: it was Giannis's greatness but another part of it but

310
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,560
Speaker 2: was bad rim decisions. That was a series where Milwaukee

311
00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,320
Speaker 2: was keeping brook Lopez at the rim, and it was

312
00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,280
Speaker 2: like Tatum and Brown that they were just forcing the

313
00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,240
Speaker 2: issue downhill and like trying to take bad shots over

314
00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,920
Speaker 2: brook Lopez at the rim, and then they'd miss slide

315
00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,520
Speaker 2: out of bounds into camera row and Milwaukee would run

316
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,520
Speaker 2: out the other way and Giannis would get something going.

317
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,680
Speaker 2: In transition, that series turned at the end of the

318
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,080
Speaker 2: series in large part one. Tatum had a magnificent shot

319
00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,400
Speaker 2: making game in game six, but they also just did

320
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,480
Speaker 2: a better job but finally making those good rim decisions, Like, hey,

321
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,120
Speaker 2: we're doing exactly what Milwaukee wants us to do. We

322
00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,640
Speaker 2: are challenging the strength of their defense, which is their

323
00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:14,800
Speaker 2: rim protection. If you're looking at Dallas's defense, it's similar

324
00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:16,920
Speaker 2: to what we were talking about with Oklahoma City in

325
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,960
Speaker 2: terms of the three levels of their defense. The strength

326
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,320
Speaker 2: of Dallas's defense is the point of attack and at

327
00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,960
Speaker 2: the rim they have rim protection, and they have good

328
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,280
Speaker 2: point of attack defenders, but they've got guys.

329
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:31,280
Speaker 1: Usually on the weak side.

330
00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,080
Speaker 2: It is a guy like Luca, it is a guy

331
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,080
Speaker 2: like Kyrie that's in those two on ones on the

332
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,400
Speaker 2: weak side defensively, and so if you could capitalize in

333
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,040
Speaker 2: some of the weak part of Dallas's defense, you might

334
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,560
Speaker 2: have more success. But instead, by attacking one on one

335
00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,119
Speaker 2: and forcing shots against rim protection, you were playing directly

336
00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,360
Speaker 2: into Dallas's strength defensively, and it just was like a

337
00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,160
Speaker 2: lot of really poor decisions attacking closeouts. They had a

338
00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,360
Speaker 2: good stretch at the end of the third quarter, or

339
00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,760
Speaker 2: they were making those kickouts passes, they were just missing

340
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,760
Speaker 2: some good looks. Case On Wallace got a couple of

341
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,200
Speaker 2: good looks in that stretch, just happened to miss him.

342
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,080
Speaker 2: Mark Dagenol, if you guys remember, in his interview to

343
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,640
Speaker 2: start the fourth quarter, was like, I like that process

344
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:13,640
Speaker 2: there at the end of the third quarter. We just

345
00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,280
Speaker 2: have to keep trusting it. And then the first couple

346
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,720
Speaker 2: plays of the fourth quarter, there's a play where Aaron

347
00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,560
Speaker 2: Wiggins drives a close out in the left corner and

348
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,720
Speaker 2: in chet Holmgren is standing completely wide open in the

349
00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,320
Speaker 2: right corner, and instead of making the kickout pass, he

350
00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:29,960
Speaker 2: tries to force like a lefty up and under reverse

351
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,560
Speaker 2: layup while screaming and yelling at the refs and jumping

352
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,600
Speaker 2: and flailing over three defenders and he misses it and

353
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:36,800
Speaker 2: they're going out the other way.

354
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:37,680
Speaker 1: There's another play.

355
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:39,880
Speaker 2: Lou Dort out of the left corner, drives a closeout,

356
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,200
Speaker 2: gets into the lane, there's an open shooter. Instead, he

357
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,480
Speaker 2: forces like a shovel pass to Chat at point blank

358
00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,760
Speaker 2: range and throws it too low and it ends up

359
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,560
Speaker 2: being a turnover. It's like the decision making driving closeouts

360
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,720
Speaker 2: was a huge problem throughout this entire series and again

361
00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,280
Speaker 2: in the big moments tonight. Honestly, that's the story of

362
00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,880
Speaker 2: the series. The main story of the series is Dallas

363
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,280
Speaker 2: has just done a much better job of taking advantage

364
00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:08,600
Speaker 2: of the back line of Oklahoma City's defense in a

365
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,520
Speaker 2: way that Oklahoma City has not done for Dallas. And

366
00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,320
Speaker 2: so as a result of that, the only real reliable

367
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:16,639
Speaker 2: offense that Oklahoma City has had to this point has

368
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,200
Speaker 2: been Shay's shot making. And it's been there and he's

369
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,280
Speaker 2: been great. Another twelve for twenty two tonight for thirty

370
00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,359
Speaker 2: one points, hit five threes, right like Shay is or

371
00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,879
Speaker 2: excuse me, he's twelve for twenty two, hit two threes.

372
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,680
Speaker 2: He a really efficient game. But that's all you've got

373
00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,760
Speaker 2: going because there isn't enough in terms of the overall

374
00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:35,879
Speaker 2: rhythm and flow.

375
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:36,199
Speaker 1: Of the offense.

376
00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,560
Speaker 2: Again, like I said, you're generating about two thirds as

377
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,639
Speaker 2: many wide open threes as you did in the regular season.

378
00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,280
Speaker 2: That's a problem, and that is on your offensive approach.

379
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,360
Speaker 2: You have to do a better job looking forward. It's

380
00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,440
Speaker 2: like what I said after Game four. I thought after

381
00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:53,040
Speaker 2: Game four it was two to two, but I didn't

382
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,720
Speaker 2: think either team was playing particularly well. Like I thought,

383
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:57,600
Speaker 2: Dallas played like shit in that game, and if they

384
00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:58,760
Speaker 2: make their free throws, this.

385
00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:00,000
Speaker 1: Series is over right.

386
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,760
Speaker 2: So like it was obvious that both teams could play better,

387
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,000
Speaker 2: and Dallas did tonight. Dallas kind of put it all

388
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,880
Speaker 2: together tonight. Tonight felt like the game where Dallas had

389
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:09,920
Speaker 2: it all going right.

390
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:10,800
Speaker 1: Like Luca and.

391
00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,760
Speaker 2: Kyrie both played much much better. They defended really well. Again,

392
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,399
Speaker 2: they've defended really well throughout most of the postseason, aside

393
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,520
Speaker 2: from a few stretches. They won the glass big time,

394
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:22,440
Speaker 2: forty six to thirty three. They won the points in

395
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,760
Speaker 2: the paint battle. They had twenty seven assists to just

396
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,399
Speaker 2: twenty for Oklahoma City. They put it all together tonight,

397
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,359
Speaker 2: and they controlled the basketball game in one right. Okay,

398
00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:32,040
Speaker 2: c He's gonna need to do the exact same thing

399
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,600
Speaker 2: in Dallas in order to extend this series. But part

400
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,879
Speaker 2: of this is the reality of younger basketball players. Like

401
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,120
Speaker 2: I talked about so many times over the years, young

402
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:47,080
Speaker 2: basketball players really struggle to identify what's working and replicate

403
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,600
Speaker 2: it and identify what's not working and trim that fat.

404
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 2: Veteran players are much better on the fly at picking

405
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,520
Speaker 2: those things up and making those tweaks to make sure

406
00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:59,960
Speaker 2: that they replicate what's working and stay away from what's

407
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,560
Speaker 2: not working. But Oklahoma City does have the talent to

408
00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,560
Speaker 2: go into Dallas and win in Game six. I mean,

409
00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,520
Speaker 2: how they did it in Game four without even playing

410
00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,320
Speaker 2: particularly well, So it's on the table. They just have

411
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,840
Speaker 2: to identify what's working and repeat it and avoid some

412
00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,320
Speaker 2: of the same pitfalls that they've run into over the

413
00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:19,439
Speaker 2: course of the series. I do think Dallas is going

414
00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,560
Speaker 2: to close it out in six, but I believe that

415
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,960
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City has a good chance, and we will see

416
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,640
Speaker 2: what happens in a few nights. And I think that

417
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,480
Speaker 2: one is actually pushed to Saturday. I think there's a

418
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,160
Speaker 2: little bit of time off, which is another really nice

419
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:37,200
Speaker 2: treat for Luca because I'm pretty sure. Tomorrow is Nuggets Wolves,

420
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,359
Speaker 2: and then the following day is Nicks Pacers, which is

421
00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,359
Speaker 2: an extra day off that really benefits obviously the Knicks

422
00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:45,720
Speaker 2: with Jalen Brunson dealing with his foot injury. And then

423
00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,719
Speaker 2: I think the Dallas game is on Saturday. So depending

424
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,320
Speaker 2: on how things go with our game seven, this might

425
00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,480
Speaker 2: be our last two game night of the year. We'll

426
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,879
Speaker 2: see how it goes. All right, Movie on to Boston.

427
00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,240
Speaker 2: So kind of a weird game, right close out game.

428
00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,760
Speaker 2: You Ma through comes out this hair hair on fire,

429
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,240
Speaker 2: super aggressive, a little bit of like hesitant basketball. Early

430
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,359
Speaker 2: in the game, a lot of Celtics were kind of

431
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,320
Speaker 2: hijacking the show, and Tatum just wasn't very involved. Even

432
00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:13,400
Speaker 2: though Tatum looked locked in, he had this like driving

433
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,320
Speaker 2: contact dunk at the rim early on where I thought

434
00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:17,040
Speaker 2: he got fouled.

435
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,639
Speaker 1: And he didn't get the call. I wasn't really involved early.

436
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,280
Speaker 2: You know how that goes with closeout games, just kind

437
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:23,920
Speaker 2: of it's really hard to put a team away, right,

438
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,920
Speaker 2: So Cav's going to run. They cut it to three

439
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,399
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter. It's eighty eight eighty five, and

440
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,199
Speaker 2: I want to kind of go possession by possession through

441
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,720
Speaker 2: what I thought was a really, really fascinating stretch of

442
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,280
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum basketball, and one that I thought was, you know,

443
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,720
Speaker 2: a really a kind of like an exhibition of what

444
00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:43,600
Speaker 2: makes Tatum so good.

445
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:44,120
Speaker 1: Right.

446
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,919
Speaker 2: And this is something where I have to do a

447
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,679
Speaker 2: better jobs as an analyst because I tend to get

448
00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,080
Speaker 2: really focused on, you know, a specific take that I'm

449
00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,480
Speaker 2: trying to drive home, and then a lot of times

450
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,520
Speaker 2: I lose sight of the bigger picture. And like, I

451
00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,560
Speaker 2: love Anthony Edwards. I think he's something that American basketball

452
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,160
Speaker 2: is desperately needed. Love his personality, love his game, and

453
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,119
Speaker 2: I've kind of used Jason Tatum as a vehicle to

454
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,159
Speaker 2: try to drive that point home. And you know, I

455
00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 2: haven't done a good job of making sure that I

456
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:20,239
Speaker 2: properly encapsulate what makes Tatum great while also accentuating what

457
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:21,280
Speaker 2: makes Aunt great.

458
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: Right.

459
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 2: And so the thing is is, like with Jason Tatum,

460
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,399
Speaker 2: there is a lot of focus on some of his

461
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,200
Speaker 2: scoring limitations, right, Like takes a lot of tough pull

462
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,080
Speaker 2: up jump shots, has a tendency to settle, you know,

463
00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:35,760
Speaker 2: there's a lack of aggression with him. Sometimes there's some

464
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,680
Speaker 2: of that stuff, right, And that is true, But there's

465
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,199
Speaker 2: a bigger picture of Jason Tatum's game, and he is

466
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,760
Speaker 2: a much better playmaker than the majority of his peers

467
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 2: at the forward position, just an outstanding defensive player and

468
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,920
Speaker 2: rebounder and the guy that just helps a basketball team

469
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 2: do a lot of stuff to win games. And I

470
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 2: thought tonight was kind of an interesting example of that,

471
00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,640
Speaker 2: where if you were watching the game and you weren't

472
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,240
Speaker 2: paying attention to the specifics of what were happening what

473
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,199
Speaker 2: was happening, you might trick yourself into thinking that Tatum

474
00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 2: was being passive, but all he really was doing was

475
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,440
Speaker 2: playing smart, easy basketball to take advantage of some coverage

476
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,760
Speaker 2: mistakes that the Calves were making. So at eighty eight

477
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:19,520
Speaker 2: eighty five, Jason Tatum is hanging out around the top

478
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,359
Speaker 2: of the key in like a straight iso and on

479
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 2: the play, Al Horford sitting in the right corner and

480
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 2: Evan Mobley is just completely ignoring him and he's just

481
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 2: sitting right in the paint. Tatum goes, I don't need

482
00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:33,640
Speaker 2: to beat my man off the dribble. I don't need

483
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 2: to call for a ball screen. The defense is automatically

484
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,840
Speaker 2: in rotation. If I simply make an on time, on

485
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,879
Speaker 2: target pass to al Horford in the corner, whips it

486
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,640
Speaker 2: to Al Horford in the corner. Horford drives the close out,

487
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,240
Speaker 2: forces Garland to help. Drew Holliday kind of does like

488
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,480
Speaker 2: a little banana cut into the front of the basket.

489
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,760
Speaker 2: Horford hits him, and Drew Holliday makes a little pop

490
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,359
Speaker 2: shot in the lane, an easy drive and drop off

491
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 2: that was generated from Tatum just taking a deep breath,

492
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:03,160
Speaker 2: slowing down, reading the floor, making an easy decision. Then

493
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,520
Speaker 2: on the very next possession, he's dribbling up the left

494
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 2: wing and again, a lot of players would slow down,

495
00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 2: call for a ball screen, try to make it about them. No,

496
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 2: he just looks up the floor and he goes, oh shit.

497
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,200
Speaker 2: Darius Garland's guarding Jayleen Brown and he's not really eving

498
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,119
Speaker 2: like up on him at this point, so he just

499
00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:21,800
Speaker 2: throws a simple kick ahead past to Jalen Brown. Jalen

500
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,399
Speaker 2: Brown rips to the left and drives downhill. Garland finally

501
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 2: wakes up and cuts him off, but not until Jaln

502
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 2: Brown gets pretty deep down to the left block. As

503
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,439
Speaker 2: a result of that, Evan Mobley has to double and

504
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 2: so Jalen Brown makes a beautiful kickout pass, makes a

505
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:42,400
Speaker 2: beautiful kickout pass to the to Derek White, who hits

506
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,480
Speaker 2: the three. And it's like, that's an easy basketball play

507
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 2: that Jason Tatum identified just by seeing that there was

508
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,240
Speaker 2: a transition cross match. Garland's guarding Jalen Brown, and Jalen

509
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:53,919
Speaker 2: Brown is open on the wing. If I throw it

510
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 2: to him, he's just gonna be able to rip through.

511
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,919
Speaker 2: He rips through, draws the second defender, which was mobiley,

512
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:01,680
Speaker 2: and then he hits Derek White. He knocks down the three.

513
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 2: So the next possession, Garland gets a layup in a

514
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 2: ball screen that cuts it. That cuts it to ninety

515
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 2: three eighty seven. They go down to the other end

516
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 2: of the floor and they run two man game, and

517
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,159
Speaker 2: they run it with Tatum and Derek White right. The

518
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,119
Speaker 2: two defenders involved are I think it was Dean Wade

519
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 2: was guarding Tatum at this point, and then Darius Garland

520
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,200
Speaker 2: was guarding Derek White.

521
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:21,400
Speaker 1: Right.

522
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,439
Speaker 2: Tatum has the ball. The coverage that most teams are

523
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,479
Speaker 2: gonna use in that situation is a hedge and recover right.

524
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 1: So Darius Garland.

525
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:33,200
Speaker 2: Hedges and on the hedge, Dean Wade for some reason

526
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,000
Speaker 2: chases over the top a lot of times, like when

527
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 2: you know a hedge is gonna be there, the hedge

528
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 2: is gonna cut off the drive, so you don't need

529
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 2: to chase over the top. You can actually go under

530
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:42,879
Speaker 2: and try to meet him on the other side because

531
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:44,679
Speaker 2: Garland is gonna cut him off and make him take

532
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:48,640
Speaker 2: a retreat dribble. Typically, right, Instead, Dean Wade chased over

533
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,000
Speaker 2: the top of the screen, So when Tatum went around

534
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 2: the hedge, by the time he finally got around Garland,

535
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 2: Dean Wade had still not recovered to get back in

536
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,680
Speaker 2: front of Tatum. So this is easy basketball, right. Tatum

537
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,360
Speaker 2: just drives at the hedge, sees that Dean Wade hasn't recovered,

538
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,720
Speaker 2: so he turns the corner and goes downhill. When he

539
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 2: turns the corner and goes downhill, he just drives hard

540
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,400
Speaker 2: at the rim and he ends up pulling in Evan

541
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 2: Mobley in help, and he just whips a beautiful cross

542
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 2: court pass to the left corner, completely unguarded. Al Horford

543
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 2: knocks down the three. Now it's ninety six to eighty seven.

544
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:24,840
Speaker 2: Similar kind of thing. On the very next possession, Jason

545
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 2: Tatum is isolating on the left wing against Marcus Morris senior.

546
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:29,920
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown is in the opposite corner.

547
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,560
Speaker 2: In the right corner. Okay, Max Struce is guarding Jalen Brown,

548
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,280
Speaker 2: but is completely ignoring him and sitting in the paint.

549
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 2: Once again, Tatum doesn't get baited into thinking Marcus Morris

550
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:42,440
Speaker 2: is too slow to guard me, I'm gonna try to

551
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 2: beat him one on one. He just goes, why do

552
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,159
Speaker 2: I need to call for a screen? Why do I

553
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 2: need to play io ball here? Jalen Brown's standing completely

554
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 2: unguarded in the right corner, and Max Strus is gonna

555
00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 2: have to close out to him. If I drive by

556
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,159
Speaker 2: Marcus Morris, I'm probably just gonna end up engaging Struce

557
00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 2: in help and making the same type of kickout pass. Anyway,

558
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:01,840
Speaker 2: Why make it more difficult than he needs to be.

559
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 2: He just whips a cross court pass, hits Jalen Brown

560
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 2: right in the shooting pocket. He rips to the baseline

561
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 2: and beats Stru's off the dribble, drops it off to

562
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 2: Al Horford, standing wide open underneath the basket, gets a

563
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,359
Speaker 2: layup ninety eight to eighty seven, very next possession, exact

564
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,240
Speaker 2: same type of two man game that they ran with

565
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 2: Derek White. The exact same functionality Garland hedges, Dean Wade

566
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 2: chases over the top. For some reason, Tatum comes off

567
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 2: the hedge, Dean Wade is not there, and as a result,

568
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 2: he just steps into a wide open pull up three

569
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,720
Speaker 2: at the top of the key knocks it down. It's

570
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,160
Speaker 2: one oh one eighty seven. Game over, takes one shot

571
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,359
Speaker 2: and dribbles off in action twice total, and yet every

572
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:48,920
Speaker 2: single possession made the decision that got Boston a great look.

573
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,800
Speaker 2: You know, I was kind of thinking about it because,

574
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 2: like I had a mailback question the other night that

575
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 2: I didn't actually get to because we ran out of time.

576
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 2: But one of you guys asked, like, oh, if Jason

577
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 2: Tatum is not as good as the top tier guys

578
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,760
Speaker 2: in the league, how does that affect Boston and like

579
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 2: their roster building in the future. You know, because I've

580
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,199
Speaker 2: always talked about how you need the guy right. And

581
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,920
Speaker 2: here's the thing, Like Tatum might not be a top

582
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,119
Speaker 2: tier superstar in the sense that he might not be

583
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,119
Speaker 2: the kind of guy who's gonna like perennially be in

584
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 2: the MVP conversation, but he might be the perfect star

585
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,960
Speaker 2: for this kind of roster build. He's playing with a

586
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 2: lot of talented guys. But at the same time, most

587
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 2: of these guys are talented guys that play best with

588
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 2: an advantage.

589
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:31,879
Speaker 1: Right. Jalen Brown's a guy that's got a good.

590
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 2: Amount of audacity and shot making ability to play on

591
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 2: an island to kind of create for himself.

592
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 1: Right. Derek White has shown the ability to create for himself. Right.

593
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 2: But for the most part, especially against top tier competition,

594
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,880
Speaker 2: you'd prefer to have Jalen Brown operating with advantage. You'd

595
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 2: prefer to have Derek White operating with an advantage. You'd

596
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 2: prefer to have Drew Holliday operating with an advantage. You

597
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 2: prefer to have Al Horford and krisops Porzingis operating with

598
00:27:55,040 --> 00:28:00,159
Speaker 2: an advantage. And so having a somewhat passive superstar that

599
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 2: is more willing to just kind of take advantage of

600
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,159
Speaker 2: the easy reads that are available. And again, like I

601
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 2: talked about, I think he's one of the best playmaking

602
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,360
Speaker 2: forwards in the league. I think he's a better passer

603
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 2: than most of his peers at the position, and I

604
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,199
Speaker 2: thought tonight was a great example of that. And so,

605
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 2: in a weird way, I actually think he might be

606
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 2: perfect for this group in the sense that if there

607
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 2: was a real alpha dog superstar with this group, he

608
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 2: might actually minimize some of the impact of the other

609
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 2: five starter caliber players because they probably be relegated more

610
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,800
Speaker 2: to smaller roles. Now there's a fine line, because I

611
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:33,879
Speaker 2: do think that Tatum is going to have to be

612
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 2: effective and aggressive and efficient at the highest levels here,

613
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,360
Speaker 2: Like if they face Denver in the finals, I do

614
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,280
Speaker 2: think he's going to have to average thirty two to

615
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,520
Speaker 2: thirty three points per game on something above sixty percent

616
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,080
Speaker 2: true shooting. So like, again there's a fine line. There

617
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 2: always comes a point Yoku tran into this in this series.

618
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 2: There always comes a point where it's like, actually, I

619
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,239
Speaker 2: need to do it myself. And the reason is I

620
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 2: have the best physical gifts of any of my teammates.

621
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 2: So in this hell hole of a fistfight of a

622
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,120
Speaker 2: stuck in the mud environment, I'm gonna need to be

623
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,280
Speaker 2: the guy that uses my size and strength to be

624
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,200
Speaker 2: impactful here. Right, So I do think he's gonna gonna

625
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 2: have to be more aggressive as a scorer. But at

626
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,400
Speaker 2: the same time, like he's just had his three best

627
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 2: this three game stretch here over the tail end of

628
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 2: the Cavs series has been the best kind of scoring

629
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 2: basketball that he's played in this postseason run. So he's

630
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 2: kind of starting to get that rhythm and groove going

631
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 2: at the right time. But you know, I just want

632
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 2: to say, like I you know, Jason Tatum. We've talked

633
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 2: a lot about him on the show over the course

634
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 2: the last couple of weeks by virtue of the whole

635
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 2: debate with Anthony Edwards right, which by the way, was

636
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,600
Speaker 2: pitched as a mailback question by one of you guys.

637
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,800
Speaker 2: But like, when it comes to to Tatum in a

638
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 2: weird way, he might be the perfect fit for this team.

639
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,640
Speaker 2: I just think the final challenge for him, the final

640
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 2: piece to push over the top if he wants to

641
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 2: get the trophy, is gonna be identifying when it's like, hey,

642
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 2: screw this, oh hierarchy stuff, give me the damn basketball.

643
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 2: And by the way he did tonight, he didn't do

644
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 2: it as a score. He did it as a passer.

645
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 2: But he will eventually face a team down the line

646
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 2: that has better personnel. Probably Denver could could be a

647
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 2: little bit of a challenge in the next round if

648
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 2: the Knicks make it right, But like he will face

649
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 2: a challenge where that specific type of heliocentric shot creation

650
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,760
Speaker 2: kind of stretch at the talent of a game requires

651
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 2: him to be more aggressive as a scorer, and when

652
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,360
Speaker 2: he gets to that point, he'll need to confront that

653
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 2: challenge and pass that challenge. But I just want to

654
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 2: shout out Jason tATu. I thought he had a great,

655
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 2: a great close to the game tonight. We're not gonna

656
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,360
Speaker 2: really work a focus on the next round yet for

657
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,000
Speaker 2: Boston until we find out who their opponent is. It's

658
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 2: gonna be interesting if it ends up being the Knicks,

659
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 2: who I believe it will be, just simply because the

660
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,160
Speaker 2: Knicks do not have the talent to hang with Boston,

661
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 2: but they sure as hell can drag you down into

662
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:51,680
Speaker 2: the mud, and they're gonna play hard all the time,

663
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 2: and Boston has had a little bit of an issue

664
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 2: with inconsistent effort, and so I do think that'll be

665
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,479
Speaker 2: a longer series, although I'll be picking Boston to win.

666
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 2: But we'll get in to more detail on that when

667
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 2: we get out of the out of this round entirely

668
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 2: moving on to Cleveland, where did they go from here?

669
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,320
Speaker 2: There's a report released from the athletic immediately after the game.

670
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 2: A couple of interesting kind of like tidbits in there.

671
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,960
Speaker 2: First of all, there's growing optimism around the league that

672
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,480
Speaker 2: Mitchell might extend. Thought that was interesting because there's been

673
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,640
Speaker 2: a lot of narrative based stuff about him, about him

674
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 2: wanting to leave. I don't think you can take that

675
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,520
Speaker 2: to the bank necessarily, but that's somewhat encouraging if you're

676
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 2: a Cavs fan, Right, But then it immediately got kind

677
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 2: of counteracted by this report from Darius Garland, who is

678
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:36,120
Speaker 2: with Clutch Sports excuse me, that some of his production

679
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 2: has gone down since the Mitchell trade, and that if

680
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 2: Cleveland extends Donovan Mitchell, that he may want a trade.

681
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 2: And so the point is is they're definitely it's looking

682
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,520
Speaker 2: more and more like they're gonna they need to choose

683
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:50,840
Speaker 2: between one of those two guys. Now, I want to

684
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 2: kind of talk about the roster build in general. First, before,

685
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 2: we talked about some specific some specific kind of strategy

686
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 2: stuff for them going into the offseason, so we knew

687
00:31:58,240 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 2: going into this year it's kind of a similar type

688
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:03,160
Speaker 2: of problem that the Lakers had, where they've got some redundancies. Right,

689
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 2: the Lakers have two skill guards and they have two

690
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 2: power forwards playing at the three and four right, and

691
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 2: so there's some diminishing returns because it's like, all of

692
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,360
Speaker 2: a sudden, you don't have a four decking guard on

693
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,200
Speaker 2: the perimeter. So now Rui's chasing Michael Porter Junior around.

694
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:18,920
Speaker 2: That's a disaster. It was one of the big factors

695
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,000
Speaker 2: that cost him a series. You have two skill guards,

696
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,120
Speaker 2: no real athletes, so you get inconsistent play from both

697
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 2: of them, and then Austin Reeves is forced to guard

698
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:28,959
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray all series, which is something that hurt them,

699
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:30,200
Speaker 2: especially at the end of games.

700
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: Right.

701
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 2: So like when you have diminishing returns because of red

702
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:34,880
Speaker 2: or when you have redundancies in your roster, you tend

703
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 2: to get diminishing returns.

704
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 1: Cavs kind of have a similar type of situation, right.

705
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,880
Speaker 2: Two interior based bigs that play at the same time,

706
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,960
Speaker 2: and then two ball dominant pick and roll guards, neither

707
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,760
Speaker 2: of which is particularly big and neither of which is

708
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 2: particularly committed to the point of attack defensively, and so

709
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,880
Speaker 2: there can be some redundancy, there can be some diminishing

710
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,800
Speaker 2: returns there. Now I want to focus on each of

711
00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 2: them individually. So first of all, the two guard build.

712
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:02,680
Speaker 2: I actually grew more optimistic about it this year just

713
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:04,960
Speaker 2: because of Donovan Mitchell's defense. I thought he had the

714
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 2: best defensive season of his career. But when they got

715
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 2: to the playoffs, Donovan Donovan's workload went up such a

716
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 2: huge level that it kind of became untenable to ask

717
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 2: him to continue to do the athletic guard stuff defensively

718
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,920
Speaker 2: while also carrying everything he was carrying offensively. And Donovan

719
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,080
Speaker 2: did not have as good of a defensive postseason as

720
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,520
Speaker 2: he did in the regular season, particularly in help he

721
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,400
Speaker 2: got burned quite frequently. Right, So, like, I do think

722
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 2: that when you really kind of take a second to

723
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 2: decompress and look back at this season, it's just a

724
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,520
Speaker 2: lot to ask for those two guards to kind of

725
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 2: mesh in the right way. And so I do believe

726
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,160
Speaker 2: that that's probably the direction that you have to go,

727
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,720
Speaker 2: is splitting up the two guard build. Also, I think

728
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 2: Max Strus, because of his kind of his willingness to

729
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,239
Speaker 2: play off the ball offensively, is kind of like an

730
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,680
Speaker 2: off screen threat and as a spot up threat. And

731
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 2: then a Strus is just is just completely committed to

732
00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 2: the defensive end in terms of like will he will

733
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 2: give you high motor effort there the point of attack

734
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 2: all season. Right, So I actually think of Strusmore as

735
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,239
Speaker 2: a two next to Garland or Mitchell, whichever one you

736
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,480
Speaker 2: end up keeping, And I look at the three as

737
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,319
Speaker 2: the position you want to upgrade and try to find

738
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,359
Speaker 2: a starting caliber two way player there. Right, you got

739
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 2: to base the decision based on what Donovan Mitchell wants,

740
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 2: because Donovan Mitchell is a better player than Darius Garland.

741
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,799
Speaker 2: I like Darius Garland. I don't think he has too

742
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:28,160
Speaker 2: much of a ceiling that's going to be super, super encouraging. Right, So,

743
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:32,000
Speaker 2: if Mitchell extends, I think you look to trade Garland

744
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:36,480
Speaker 2: for starting caliber three. If Mitchell doesn't extend, then I

745
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:40,760
Speaker 2: would trade Donovan Mitchell and keep and commit to Darius Garland.

746
00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:43,319
Speaker 2: Right now, the interesting thing there is which one of

747
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,439
Speaker 2: those guys commits. If it ends up being Mitchell wants

748
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,839
Speaker 2: to trade and you keep Garland, I think you have

749
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 2: to look for more of a high powered, offensive minded forward.

750
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,320
Speaker 2: That's where it might be worthwhile, especially with Evan Mobley's

751
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,280
Speaker 2: defensive versatility and his ability to compete on the perimeter,

752
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,600
Speaker 2: to look more or at some of the offensive guys

753
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:03,520
Speaker 2: like maybe you do look for a guy like a

754
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 2: lowri market in right, Like, maybe you do look for

755
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:11,399
Speaker 2: a more of like a an offensive thread at that position, right,

756
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:14,120
Speaker 2: maybe a Kyle Kuzma or something like that. Right, But

757
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,080
Speaker 2: if it's Mitchell that you keep and you end up

758
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,920
Speaker 2: trading Garland, Mitchell is such a high powered offensive player,

759
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:21,640
Speaker 2: I'd be looking for more of a two way thread

760
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:23,799
Speaker 2: at the three. That's where I'd be looking more at

761
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,480
Speaker 2: like a McHale Bridges. Maybe you call Brooklyn and you

762
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 2: try to see if you can trade Darius Garland for

763
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,680
Speaker 2: a guy like Michale Bridges. Right like that, that's kind

764
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 2: of the tipping point there is. I don't think Garland

765
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 2: is high powered enough offensively for you not to have

766
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:40,279
Speaker 2: a scoring forward next to him. Mitchell, I think can

767
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,640
Speaker 2: play with more of like a versatile two way Swiss

768
00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 2: Army knife type of forward because of the impact that

769
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 2: he has offensively. As far as the two Bigs looks

770
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,839
Speaker 2: look goes, Mobley's offensive development isn't where you want it

771
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 2: to be at this point, but it is coming along

772
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,200
Speaker 2: little by little, and he did make progress this year. Also,

773
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,719
Speaker 2: like he's just not big enough to be a full

774
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:02,880
Speaker 2: time center and so the way I look at it,

775
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,160
Speaker 2: the athletic in size and rebounding advantages that come from

776
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 2: the Mobley Allen front court exceed the downsides of some

777
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,879
Speaker 2: of their offensive limitations, and Mobili will continue to get

778
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:14,520
Speaker 2: better over the years.

779
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:15,399
Speaker 1: And so when I.

780
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,520
Speaker 2: Look at like the core build of Cleveland, I think

781
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,400
Speaker 2: of it as whichever one of the two guards you

782
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:22,560
Speaker 2: keep struce at the two, I'd stick with Mobley Allen

783
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,440
Speaker 2: and just try to upgrade that three spot depending on

784
00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:27,399
Speaker 2: which one of the two guards that you.

785
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:28,040
Speaker 1: End up getting.

786
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 2: All Right, before we get out here, let's take a

787
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:38,279
Speaker 2: look at our mail bag. Assuming they stay healthy. Is

788
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 2: this version of the Nuggets unstoppable? I can't see anyone

789
00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 2: left beating them in a seven game series. So I've

790
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,759
Speaker 2: been really impressed by Denver, and I do think that

791
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:51,480
Speaker 2: their offense is unstoppable in the sense that, like over

792
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 2: the last three games, they have an offensive rating over

793
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,480
Speaker 2: one twenty seven. And we're talking about a Minnesota Timberwolves

794
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 2: team that not only was the best defense the league

795
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 2: in the regular season, was clearly the best defense in

796
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 2: the league through the first six playoff games, and is

797
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:10,640
Speaker 2: literally constructed by a former Denver executive to be Taylor

798
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 2: made to beat the Denver Nuggets, right, and they.

799
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:15,800
Speaker 1: Sure as hell can't stop.

800
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:18,640
Speaker 2: Like, you know, there's been a lot of talk about

801
00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 2: Rudy Gobert after last night's game, and like, do I

802
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,319
Speaker 2: think Rudy Gobert deserves all four Defensive Player of the Year?

803
00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:25,799
Speaker 1: Not necessarily.

804
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 2: I don't think he's the best defensive player in the league,

805
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:32,200
Speaker 2: and I think he's got a deeply entrenched media backing

806
00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:34,040
Speaker 2: that kind of gives him a lot of a leg

807
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 2: up when it comes to reward season. But I do

808
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:38,920
Speaker 2: think he's a top five ish defensive player in the league.

809
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:43,040
Speaker 2: And it's more just fascinating that Rudy Gobert was targeting

810
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 2: him simply from the standpoint of Jokic's greatness that for him,

811
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:49,279
Speaker 2: he's thinking, Oh, that guy, that guy that's the best

812
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,799
Speaker 2: defensive player of the world. I'd rather attack him on

813
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 2: an island because then I don't have to worry about

814
00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:55,600
Speaker 2: him and help and I know that I can go

815
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,560
Speaker 2: through him whenever I want. And so that's more of

816
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,400
Speaker 2: a testament to Jokic than anything else. But I do

817
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 2: think that Denver clearly demonstrated that they can score on anybody.

818
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:05,759
Speaker 1: Now here's the thing.

819
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,799
Speaker 2: The Lakers and the Timberwolves gave the Nuggets issues for

820
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 2: different reasons. Right, The Lakers gave the Nuggets issues because

821
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:18,640
Speaker 2: they have incredible interior passing Lebron James and Anthony Davis

822
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,040
Speaker 2: and Ruey Hotcha Mura cutting along the baseline, rolling to

823
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,800
Speaker 2: the basket and ball screens, Lebron going downhill, Dlo and

824
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 2: Austin Is spacing shooters. They have so much offensive firepower

825
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 2: in their starting lineup. Remember that team was what third

826
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,719
Speaker 2: and second or third in offense for the last half

827
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,799
Speaker 2: of the season if I remember correctly, so like that

828
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,240
Speaker 2: was an elite offense. But their issue was they didn't

829
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 2: have the personnel to contain Jamal Murray and so they

830
00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:45,000
Speaker 2: constantly ended up dealing with problems Layden games with getting

831
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:47,960
Speaker 2: stops on Jamal Murray. So Denver was able to overcome

832
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,279
Speaker 2: that matchup by being like, oh, that's great that you

833
00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:53,759
Speaker 2: guys are so good offensively, but we're better offensively.

834
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 1: Right.

835
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 2: The Minnesota series was different because Minnesota, it's like they've

836
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:02,479
Speaker 2: got excellent perimeter defenders. Instead of Austin Reeves on Jamal Murray,

837
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 2: now it's Nikkeil Alexander Walker, and Jada McDaniels and Anthony Edwards,

838
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 2: and they have given him hell in this series for

839
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,240
Speaker 2: the most part, Right, Jokic, It's like wave after wave

840
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,160
Speaker 2: of size. Like the Lakers did not have a two

841
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:14,480
Speaker 2: big look Minnesota does.

842
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:14,799
Speaker 1: Right.

843
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 2: Minnesota's got these kind of big, trunky, power forward center

844
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,960
Speaker 2: hybrids that they put in front of Gobert. And so

845
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,399
Speaker 2: there's like this layered approach to their defense that really

846
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,759
Speaker 2: gave Denver some problems. But the way that Denver was

847
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,800
Speaker 2: able to regain control of that series is Minnesota's offense sucks,

848
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,560
Speaker 2: and so as soon as Denver really engaged themselves defensively,

849
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,800
Speaker 2: they were able to grind that Minnesota offense into the ground.

850
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:39,399
Speaker 1: Right.

851
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,560
Speaker 2: This is where Boston is unique. Boston has both the

852
00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 2: perimeter talent to make life more difficult on Jamal Murray,

853
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,280
Speaker 2: Kintavious Kalbo Pope, Reggie Jackson, and Michael Porter Junior, while

854
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,200
Speaker 2: also having the and I'm talking about the defensive end,

855
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:58,719
Speaker 2: while also having the super high powered offense on the

856
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:02,120
Speaker 2: other end. Now, the counterpoint is Chrisops Perzingis and Al Horford,

857
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,439
Speaker 2: knt Garden, Kola Jokic, You're absolutely right, You're absolutely right,

858
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:08,279
Speaker 2: that's gonna be a disaster. But the way I would

859
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:12,040
Speaker 2: the flip side there is if Minnesota can't stop them, Like,

860
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,960
Speaker 2: what advantage is there really, Because if Yokich and Murray

861
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,080
Speaker 2: in that offense are gonna rip through Minnesota's defense to

862
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:21,240
Speaker 2: the tune of one hundred and twenty seven something points

863
00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 2: per one hundred possessions, then it really doesn't matter what

864
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 2: defensive personnel Minnesota has, especially when they go over to

865
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 2: the other end in Minnesota can't score, and so Boston

866
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:34,600
Speaker 2: I actually think has the capability to get into a

867
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,680
Speaker 2: shootout with Denver and win. Now I will be picking

868
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,960
Speaker 2: Denver to win that series. I think they are more

869
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,520
Speaker 2: consistently at their ceiling and I think they are the

870
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:46,480
Speaker 2: safe bet. I believe Denver's going to win the championship,

871
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 2: but I do not think this is just over. I

872
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:53,399
Speaker 2: think Boston has a really good chance. I think Boston specifically,

873
00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:55,759
Speaker 2: one of the things with Boston, we talked about the

874
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:58,799
Speaker 2: high drop coverage that they've been using against Anthony Edwards. Right,

875
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,120
Speaker 2: did a whole video breakdown on it today. Jokic did

876
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,520
Speaker 2: an amazing job in Game five at the level of

877
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:07,840
Speaker 2: the screen containing Anthony Edwards using active hands to force turnovers.

878
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:09,439
Speaker 2: He just had a great defensive game. He's been great

879
00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:13,719
Speaker 2: defensively for the last three games. But the problem there

880
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 2: is you can take the ball out Anthony Edwards's hands

881
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,360
Speaker 2: because there's just no offensive talent around him, especially with

882
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,239
Speaker 2: Mike Conley's not out there. It's like, oh, you went

883
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,840
Speaker 2: with a high drop against ant or you double teamed

884
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:26,080
Speaker 2: ant on an ISO and you got the ball out

885
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:26,520
Speaker 2: of his hands.

886
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 1: That's great, well off the.

887
00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 2: Ball, Aye Rudy Gobert, who can barely catch and finish,

888
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:34,160
Speaker 2: can't read the floor, is just an absolute disaster offensively.

889
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:36,759
Speaker 2: Carl Anthony Towns, who like, yeah, if he's making his

890
00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,920
Speaker 2: three point shot, can get going offensively, but Aaron Gordon

891
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:42,600
Speaker 2: has basically contained him on the drive. The Keil Alexander

892
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,560
Speaker 2: Walker who's really streaky, and Jada McDaniels has been bad

893
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 2: offensively through this entire postseason run, right, So like they

894
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,960
Speaker 2: just don't have offensive talent off of Anthony Edwards to

895
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:57,360
Speaker 2: capitalize on those aggressive coverages. If Denver goes with similar coverages,

896
00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,200
Speaker 2: and I actually think Denver will probably run more deep

897
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:01,799
Speaker 2: drop against we'll get into that more. If those two

898
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:04,919
Speaker 2: teams actually advance to the finals, but in the event

899
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,800
Speaker 2: that they run more aggressive coverages and load up Jason

900
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 2: Tatum is one of the best skip passers in the league,

901
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:13,840
Speaker 2: and he's not passing to limited offensive players. He's passing

902
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:17,240
Speaker 2: passing to really high level offensive players that can all shoot.

903
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:20,880
Speaker 2: And so Boston, I think is actually uniquely equipped to

904
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,640
Speaker 2: score on Denver and also make things somewhat more difficult

905
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,400
Speaker 2: for them on the defensive end. Again, I will be

906
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:29,279
Speaker 2: picking Denver, but I it's gonna be close. I think

907
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,640
Speaker 2: it's gonna be a great series, and I do think

908
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:35,560
Speaker 2: that Boston certainly presents a lot of challenges for Denver.

909
00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:39,440
Speaker 2: By the way, Boston shot like shit in both of

910
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:41,640
Speaker 2: the regular season games against Denver and they were still

911
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:46,200
Speaker 2: right there in both of those games. So again, picking Denver,

912
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:48,359
Speaker 2: but don't ride off Boston. I absolutely think they can

913
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,719
Speaker 2: win that series. And I do not think this is

914
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:52,440
Speaker 2: over and that's how it should be. I want it

915
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,040
Speaker 2: to be difficult. That's the best part about adversity and

916
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:58,320
Speaker 2: NBA history. You want you want to see what Jokic

917
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,600
Speaker 2: can do against that next level of the challenge, and

918
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:02,440
Speaker 2: I'm glad it's going to be in the finals. And

919
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,120
Speaker 2: by the way, neither team is there. Denver still us

920
00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:07,680
Speaker 2: to get past Oklahoma City Dallas, and obviously Boston still

921
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:09,680
Speaker 2: us to get past New York Indiana. I just expect

922
00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:11,879
Speaker 2: them to those of you guys who listened to the show.

923
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:14,480
Speaker 2: I've been on Boston Denver in the finals basically the

924
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:19,560
Speaker 2: entire season. All right, Hey, Jason, love the show and

925
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,960
Speaker 2: MAV's okay, see, both stars performed, both teams decent from three,

926
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:24,879
Speaker 2: But the difference is the use of the bigs. Chet

927
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,000
Speaker 2: needs the ballmore, do you agree. So it's tough because

928
00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,160
Speaker 2: with the way that with the way that Dallas is

929
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:32,799
Speaker 2: loading up on ball screens, particularly at the rim and

930
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:35,880
Speaker 2: at the point of attack, and in ISO, there's not

931
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:38,920
Speaker 2: really a ton of opportunity for Chet to score on

932
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:41,040
Speaker 2: the role because there's a lot of congestion in there.

933
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:43,440
Speaker 2: So most of it comes down to Chet needs to

934
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,480
Speaker 2: be operating in advantage situations more and that's not going

935
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,080
Speaker 2: to happen unless those kickout passes were happening. And again,

936
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,759
Speaker 2: like I talked about earlier, Oklahoma City just hasn't done

937
00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 2: a very good job of taking advantage of those kickout opportunities.

938
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,920
Speaker 2: How do the MAVs get Kyrie going, so Kyrie is

939
00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:02,640
Speaker 2: getting Both teams have really good perimeter defenders, right, It's

940
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,120
Speaker 2: been difficult for everybody. Luca and Shae have managed to

941
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 2: break out a little bit because they're both you know,

942
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:11,320
Speaker 2: top six or seven players in the NBA, depending on

943
00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:12,759
Speaker 2: where you want to rank Shay. I think Luca is

944
00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:14,919
Speaker 2: the second best player in the NBA, right. I think

945
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:16,680
Speaker 2: we'll take a look at it in the offseason. But

946
00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 2: I think saying Shay's top five is not, you know,

947
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:23,280
Speaker 2: completely out of the realm of reality, right, Like he's

948
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:25,400
Speaker 2: I want to see how the rest of the postseason

949
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:27,720
Speaker 2: goes before I do those rankings. But those are two really, really,

950
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:30,439
Speaker 2: really good players, and so they've managed to break out

951
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:33,040
Speaker 2: in a couple of games, but they've also had bad games, right,

952
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:35,279
Speaker 2: Like I thought Shay was pretty bad in Game two,

953
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:37,680
Speaker 2: in Game three. I think Game three in particular, I

954
00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:39,040
Speaker 2: think he was like ten for twenty three from the

955
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,120
Speaker 2: field and was really struggling to knock down those mid

956
00:44:41,239 --> 00:44:41,800
Speaker 2: range jumpers.

957
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:42,040
Speaker 1: Right.

958
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 2: Luca was a disaster in game four, right, Like a

959
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:47,800
Speaker 2: lot of this is just lou Dort's awesome at defense.

960
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:50,480
Speaker 2: Jalen Williams case on Wallace. These guys are awesome at defense,

961
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:55,080
Speaker 2: Dearrek Jones Junior PJ. Washington the rim protection. Chet Holmgren

962
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:57,920
Speaker 2: has been amazing defensively in the series. It'saw a crazy

963
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:00,760
Speaker 2: stat today. I don't know if it actually survive tonight

964
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 2: off the check real quick, but I saw it. Sad

965
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:04,879
Speaker 2: that Chet has won his shifts in every single game

966
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:06,680
Speaker 2: this year in the playoffs.

967
00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:07,200
Speaker 1: That's crazy.

968
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,799
Speaker 2: Let's see if he did it again tonight minus ten.

969
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:13,160
Speaker 2: So Chet lost his shift tonight, his shifts for the

970
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:17,279
Speaker 2: first time in the entire postseason. So, like, both of

971
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:18,880
Speaker 2: these teams are really strong at the point of attack

972
00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:21,400
Speaker 2: and really strong at the rim. But yeah, as far

973
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:24,279
Speaker 2: as Kyrie goes like, I actually think Kyrie has done

974
00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:28,120
Speaker 2: a really nice job of just doing what he can

975
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:30,680
Speaker 2: to help winning. Like tonight even just there's a huge

976
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:32,680
Speaker 2: three he hit off of a ball screen to put

977
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:34,560
Speaker 2: them up fourteen. I think it was in the early

978
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:37,080
Speaker 2: fourth quarter if I remember correctly, And it's like he's

979
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:39,359
Speaker 2: not getting great looks, but he's just finding a way

980
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:42,400
Speaker 2: to make shots in timely moments. Kyrie's playmaking has been

981
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,960
Speaker 2: a huge asset to the series. Kyrie's been excellent defensively

982
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,200
Speaker 2: in this series. I'm sure you MAVs fans would agree,

983
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:51,759
Speaker 2: but like, yeah, Kyrie needs to get going offensively if

984
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:53,680
Speaker 2: you're gonna like beat Denver in the next round, there's

985
00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:56,920
Speaker 2: no doubt. But like credit Oklahoma City and Kyrie's just

986
00:45:56,920 --> 00:46:01,759
Speaker 2: finding other ways to impact winning well. The Nuggets beat

987
00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:04,040
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty two Warriors. I think the Nuggets are

988
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:06,080
Speaker 2: the best team in the leite that I've seen in

989
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:09,600
Speaker 2: the NBA since the Kadie Steph Warriors, So I do

990
00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,479
Speaker 2: think they beat the twenty twenty two Warriors. Again, that's

991
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 2: not a discredit to the twenty twenty two Warriors as

992
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,879
Speaker 2: a championship team. They're a bona fide championship winning team,

993
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:23,880
Speaker 2: but so much of that was Steph just overcoming everything

994
00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 2: for his team, and that team a bunch of key

995
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:31,520
Speaker 2: guys overachieved, particularly Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins. But in

996
00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 2: terms of like sheer, force of power and size, I

997
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:39,480
Speaker 2: do think that the that Denver was better, This version

998
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:41,719
Speaker 2: of Denver is better. But again, like I think Denver

999
00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:45,759
Speaker 2: is gonna repeat this year. So like the last team

1000
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,680
Speaker 2: to repeat was the Kadie Staph Warriors. Before that, it

1001
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:51,319
Speaker 2: had been almost what had been what six years or

1002
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:54,640
Speaker 2: so earlier that it was the Lebron James heat right,

1003
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:57,080
Speaker 2: and before that it was the Lakers. Like it happens

1004
00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:00,000
Speaker 2: really rarely in NBA history, and so if Denver can

1005
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 2: pull that off, that's impressive. Not to mention that, I

1006
00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 2: think the league is just freaking stacked with talent right now,

1007
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:08,560
Speaker 2: so a repeat championship would be a really special accomplishment.

1008
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,400
Speaker 2: How much does the krisops Porzingis injury impact the Celtics

1009
00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:15,359
Speaker 2: title chances in your opinion? Obviously, I think they need

1010
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,160
Speaker 2: him to beat Denver, But you've got three weeks until Denver,

1011
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:21,800
Speaker 2: so I don't think it matters all that much, just

1012
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:23,799
Speaker 2: simply because I think he's gonna be healthy when the

1013
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:26,920
Speaker 2: time comes. But yeah, if christops Porzingis gets hurt or

1014
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:29,799
Speaker 2: gets re injured along the way, that just makes it

1015
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:32,239
Speaker 2: difficult because Denver is just a really damn good team

1016
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:33,839
Speaker 2: and I think you need all hands on deck for it.

1017
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 1: Let's see.

1018
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,680
Speaker 2: Who's more valuable to the Nuggets, Murray or Gordon. To me,

1019
00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:44,239
Speaker 2: it seems Gordon is more valuable. Is the more valuable player.

1020
00:47:44,239 --> 00:47:46,840
Speaker 2: He anchors the defense and has many outstanding offensive traits

1021
00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:51,600
Speaker 2: a couple things Murray is. Again from the Stanme point

1022
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,920
Speaker 2: of process, you can't talk about Murray's injury. He just

1023
00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:56,359
Speaker 2: needs to find a way to be better, like we've

1024
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,760
Speaker 2: talked about. But he obviously is a little bit hampered,

1025
00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:02,359
Speaker 2: and a lot of it is matchup based, right, Like

1026
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,920
Speaker 2: this is a series that Denver is dominated on the interior.

1027
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:08,719
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray was never going to be the way you

1028
00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 2: beat Minnesota. Minnesota's perimeter defenders are too good, right And honestly,

1029
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:15,560
Speaker 2: like I thought, he got pretty good looks against the Lakers,

1030
00:48:15,560 --> 00:48:16,920
Speaker 2: he just was cold and then he got hot at

1031
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:18,919
Speaker 2: the right times, and like every single time they needed

1032
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:21,480
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray in the Lakers series, he showed up and

1033
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:26,000
Speaker 2: he made shots. I do think that overall it's very

1034
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:28,640
Speaker 2: close between those two guys, but I think I'd lean

1035
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,840
Speaker 2: very slightly towards Jamal Murray. But every single one of

1036
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:34,439
Speaker 2: those defense players in that starting lineup is pretty close

1037
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,200
Speaker 2: in terms of impact. Like, can't write off Michael Porter Junior.

1038
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:41,240
Speaker 2: He was unbelievable, especially through the first like six playoff

1039
00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:43,880
Speaker 2: games this year. Minnesota has been way more keyed in

1040
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:45,960
Speaker 2: on him over the last few games, but He's hit

1041
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:49,920
Speaker 2: some big shots too. I think Michael Porter Junior, especially

1042
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:51,960
Speaker 2: as a help defender and rebounder, he brings a lot

1043
00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:54,040
Speaker 2: to the table. Kntavi's Collop Pope is the guy you're

1044
00:48:54,040 --> 00:48:56,279
Speaker 2: asking to guard the other team's best perimeter player every night,

1045
00:48:56,800 --> 00:48:58,759
Speaker 2: so you got to give him some credit there too.

1046
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:01,640
Speaker 2: And he hit a bunch of huge threes in Game five.

1047
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,360
Speaker 2: So I think all those guys are of are vitally important.

1048
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:06,040
Speaker 2: But if I had to pick a true number two,

1049
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 2: even though Aaron Gordon's having a magnificent playoff run, I

1050
00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:15,040
Speaker 2: think I still lean slightly towards Jamal Murray. Let's see,

1051
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:17,879
Speaker 2: I'll do two more then we'll get out of here.

1052
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:26,080
Speaker 2: Does Dallas matchup well with Denver or Minnesota? So I again,

1053
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:27,959
Speaker 2: I think Denver is gonna win. So I'll talk about

1054
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:31,240
Speaker 2: it more from the Dallas Denver perspective. Obviously we'll confront

1055
00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:33,160
Speaker 2: it from Minnesota's perspective if they happen to flip the

1056
00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:35,399
Speaker 2: script and win the last two games. But the thing

1057
00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:37,360
Speaker 2: with Dallas, again, it's gonna be a big part of

1058
00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:39,719
Speaker 2: it is going to be Luca. I think you're gonna

1059
00:49:39,719 --> 00:49:43,640
Speaker 2: see similar types of coverages from the standpoint of Denver,

1060
00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:47,160
Speaker 2: you know, kind of being at the level and Yoka

1061
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:51,160
Speaker 2: the specifically Luca has that gift, like we talked about earlier,

1062
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:54,279
Speaker 2: manipulating the back line of the defense. But a big

1063
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:58,319
Speaker 2: advantage there is they have the Aaron Gordon piece. So like,

1064
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,880
Speaker 2: what a huge luxury to have Aaron Gordon. If you

1065
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:03,560
Speaker 2: do run into a kd if you do run into

1066
00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:05,319
Speaker 2: a Lebron, if you do run into a Kawhi, if

1067
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:07,239
Speaker 2: you do run into a Luca, that you can put

1068
00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:08,880
Speaker 2: him on a big forward from the other team. And

1069
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:10,719
Speaker 2: I think Aaron Gordon is a guy that's gonna have

1070
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:14,239
Speaker 2: some size and quickness to make things somewhat difficult on

1071
00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:16,800
Speaker 2: Luka Dancic. I think Dallas will be able to score

1072
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:20,880
Speaker 2: in that series. But similarly to what we talked about earlier,

1073
00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:23,000
Speaker 2: I think that the front line for Denver would do

1074
00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:26,640
Speaker 2: a ton of damage. I think it'll I'm going to

1075
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:28,960
Speaker 2: say exactly what I said after the Lakers series. I

1076
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,000
Speaker 2: thought Minnesota had a similar type of chance to be

1077
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 2: Denver because they were so bad offensively, right, Dallas, I

1078
00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:39,920
Speaker 2: actually think kind of brings a better combination of offensive

1079
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:43,400
Speaker 2: ability and defensive ability. I do think that they'll compete

1080
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:46,560
Speaker 2: with Denver, but I just think overall, it's the same

1081
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:48,520
Speaker 2: kind of story we've been talking about. They're a really

1082
00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:50,960
Speaker 2: good offense, but they're not as good offensively as Denver.

1083
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:55,040
Speaker 2: They're really good defense, but Denver's as good, if not better, defensively.

1084
00:50:55,200 --> 00:50:57,879
Speaker 2: Denver's top ten defense this year. So again, I think

1085
00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:00,799
Speaker 2: Dallas will compete, but i'd be picking down and we'll

1086
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:02,600
Speaker 2: get into the the to the nitty gritty of that

1087
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:12,640
Speaker 2: series if it ends up coming to fruition. Let's see, Oh,

1088
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:14,120
Speaker 2: we got a Star Wars one, so I'll do I'll

1089
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:15,759
Speaker 2: do one more basketball question and then we'll do a

1090
00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:19,600
Speaker 2: Star Wars question for the Wolves. Would you trade Kat

1091
00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:23,040
Speaker 2: for a reliable perimeter initiator guard that can score, slash

1092
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:27,040
Speaker 2: playmake like a Kyrie Dejonte archetype next to Ant Yes,

1093
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:31,000
Speaker 2: the idea is the ideal situation. You want a really

1094
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:34,480
Speaker 2: good skill guard next to Ant, answer your athlete guard.

1095
00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:37,440
Speaker 2: You want a skill guard, Just think like a a

1096
00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:40,480
Speaker 2: kind of like a bigger, better version of Mike Conley.

1097
00:51:40,719 --> 00:51:40,919
Speaker 1: Right.

1098
00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:43,279
Speaker 2: I still like Jada McDaniels at the three, but I

1099
00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:45,640
Speaker 2: think you need a really high level offensive player, especially

1100
00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:46,160
Speaker 2: as a shooter.

1101
00:51:46,239 --> 00:51:46,640
Speaker 1: At the two.

1102
00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:49,560
Speaker 2: In that case, Karl Anthony Towns gives you the means

1103
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:51,920
Speaker 2: with which to make that type of deal because he

1104
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:54,439
Speaker 2: has value around the league and you have a redundancy there.

1105
00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:56,120
Speaker 2: You have nas reed and you have to kind of

1106
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:58,160
Speaker 2: look at it from the standpoint of luxury. Doesn't matter

1107
00:51:58,239 --> 00:52:00,160
Speaker 2: how much depth you have. If you're top five is

1108
00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:02,239
Speaker 2: not good enough. And so I do think that the

1109
00:52:02,239 --> 00:52:05,000
Speaker 2: best option moving forward from Minnesota is to trade Karl

1110
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:07,920
Speaker 2: Anthony Towns. You gotta wait to see who becomes available

1111
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:10,920
Speaker 2: this summer. Dejonte Murray is actually an interesting type of

1112
00:52:11,560 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 2: player in the sense that he can kind of take

1113
00:52:13,719 --> 00:52:15,680
Speaker 2: some more of the primary point of attack assignments to

1114
00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:18,880
Speaker 2: save Ant's legs. Dejonte just had his best perimeter shooting

1115
00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:22,320
Speaker 2: season of his career. It also gives you another offensive

1116
00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:26,200
Speaker 2: creator that can create dribble penetration, which is something nobody

1117
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:28,799
Speaker 2: else on that team can do. But Ant, like Cat,

1118
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:30,920
Speaker 2: can't beat people off the dribble. My common can't beat

1119
00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:33,319
Speaker 2: people off the dribble, So, like Dejonte is kind of

1120
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:35,440
Speaker 2: an interesting kind of guy to look at. Also, if

1121
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 2: I'm Atlanta, I'd be really interested in Karl Anthony Towns.

1122
00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:41,520
Speaker 2: As the partner alongside Jalen Johnson in Trey Young, So

1123
00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:44,360
Speaker 2: that might actually be an interesting route for them to

1124
00:52:44,400 --> 00:52:48,680
Speaker 2: look at. What is your favorite Star Wars movie from

1125
00:52:48,719 --> 00:52:55,840
Speaker 2: the first two trilogies. This is an interesting one. I

1126
00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:59,560
Speaker 2: think I'm gonna go with Revenge of the Sith, and

1127
00:52:59,640 --> 00:53:03,160
Speaker 2: the reason reason why is like, I've always been super

1128
00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:06,920
Speaker 2: fascinated by the history of the Sith. Those of you

1129
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:09,600
Speaker 2: guys who don't know, I'm a diehard Star Wars fan,

1130
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:12,439
Speaker 2: but I'm particularly big on fantasy, really like Star Wars,

1131
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:16,000
Speaker 2: really like Game of Thrones, really like Lord of the Rings.

1132
00:53:16,360 --> 00:53:19,439
Speaker 2: I have a podcast that I do with my buddy Luke.

1133
00:53:20,160 --> 00:53:22,080
Speaker 2: It's called Two Sons. You can actually see the logo

1134
00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:25,920
Speaker 2: down here. We just recently hit like the Showgun series,

1135
00:53:25,960 --> 00:53:28,120
Speaker 2: we hit Fallout.

1136
00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:29,400
Speaker 1: Really really loved Fallout.

1137
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:31,600
Speaker 2: Don't know how many of you guys were into that

1138
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:33,759
Speaker 2: video game growing up, but that was an incredible one

1139
00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:35,720
Speaker 2: for me. But we actually just did a big breakdown

1140
00:53:35,719 --> 00:53:39,080
Speaker 2: on the Acolyte trilogy, or the Acolyte trailer, i should say,

1141
00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:43,440
Speaker 2: And in that trailer there there were some easter eggs

1142
00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:45,799
Speaker 2: that that really kind of lead me to believe that

1143
00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:48,359
Speaker 2: that show has a lot more to do with kind

1144
00:53:48,400 --> 00:53:50,480
Speaker 2: of flushing out some of the history of the Sith.

1145
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:58,160
Speaker 2: I got super I Paul messages that are the Twitter

1146
00:53:58,239 --> 00:54:00,840
Speaker 2: rumors true that you love episode and then applauded in

1147
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:02,240
Speaker 2: the theater when Palpatine returned.

1148
00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:03,279
Speaker 1: I'll get to that to minute.

1149
00:54:03,239 --> 00:54:06,960
Speaker 2: I have a story, but anyway, The Acolyte I think

1150
00:54:07,040 --> 00:54:08,840
Speaker 2: is going to be about some of the history of

1151
00:54:08,840 --> 00:54:12,719
Speaker 2: the Siths, particularly surrounding how the Jedi I discover the

1152
00:54:12,800 --> 00:54:15,600
Speaker 2: Rule of Two. It's kind of like a big plot

1153
00:54:15,640 --> 00:54:17,040
Speaker 2: hole in Star Wars. I wi'll get into it right now,

1154
00:54:17,040 --> 00:54:18,279
Speaker 2: because if you want to listen to that, you can

1155
00:54:18,280 --> 00:54:21,640
Speaker 2: go to my other podcast to see it. But some

1156
00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:23,959
Speaker 2: of my favorite Star Wars books are like the Darth

1157
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:28,839
Speaker 2: Baine trilogy, which explains the actual origin, original origination of.

1158
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:29,479
Speaker 1: The Rule of Two.

1159
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:32,600
Speaker 2: And then also this book called Darth Plagis, which Darth

1160
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:36,799
Speaker 2: Plagas effectively. It effectively kind of functions as a as

1161
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:38,920
Speaker 2: a as a what's the word I'm looking for, as

1162
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:43,800
Speaker 2: a a precursor, I'm blanking on the obvious word for

1163
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:47,800
Speaker 2: movie that that comes before the actual series. Paul, you

1164
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:50,480
Speaker 2: could probably text it to me, but it's a precursor

1165
00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:55,680
Speaker 2: to the Phantom Menace, right, prequel, thank you. It's a

1166
00:54:55,680 --> 00:54:58,480
Speaker 2: prequel basically functions as a prequel to the Phantom Menace.

1167
00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:02,520
Speaker 2: In it, it just goes into excruciating detail of like

1168
00:55:02,920 --> 00:55:06,440
Speaker 2: where you know, there's a Sith lord named Darth Pennebrius

1169
00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:09,160
Speaker 2: who had an apprentice named darth Plagus who ended up

1170
00:55:09,440 --> 00:55:13,279
Speaker 2: finding Palpatine, And it intricately lays out what's called the

1171
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:18,080
Speaker 2: Sith Grand Plan. And basically the Sith used to be thousands, right,

1172
00:55:18,600 --> 00:55:21,120
Speaker 2: and then a thousand years before the Phantom Menace, there's

1173
00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:24,040
Speaker 2: this big war with the Brotherhood of Darkness, the Jedi

1174
00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:26,960
Speaker 2: one partially through a manipulation of Darth Baine, which you

1175
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:29,399
Speaker 2: can read in those books. But from there, the Sith

1176
00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:33,240
Speaker 2: started to realize they can't win against the Jedi because

1177
00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:36,799
Speaker 2: they don't have the game war cability to be able

1178
00:55:36,840 --> 00:55:39,279
Speaker 2: to come together and reach a common goal. The Sith

1179
00:55:39,320 --> 00:55:41,080
Speaker 2: all backstab each other because they all want to be

1180
00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:43,359
Speaker 2: the dark Lord of the Sith, right, And so they

1181
00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:45,399
Speaker 2: come up with this system called the Rule of two

1182
00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:48,640
Speaker 2: and where there's always one master, one apprentice, and it

1183
00:55:48,719 --> 00:55:50,960
Speaker 2: just kind of allows them to operate in hiding. But

1184
00:55:51,040 --> 00:55:55,839
Speaker 2: the major theme is they they are trying to secretly

1185
00:55:55,960 --> 00:56:00,440
Speaker 2: subvert the galaxy. They obviously conceptualizing come up with the

1186
00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:04,359
Speaker 2: Clone War. They obviously they create the Clone Army. They

1187
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:06,879
Speaker 2: do all of this stuff right, and it all comes

1188
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:09,799
Speaker 2: to fruition in Revenge of the Sith. And so every

1189
00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:11,840
Speaker 2: time I watch Revenge of the Sith, I always just

1190
00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:15,400
Speaker 2: think back to the Baine books and the Plaguis books,

1191
00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:20,280
Speaker 2: and I just think about specifically, like this genius grand

1192
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:23,560
Speaker 2: plan that that obviously George Lucas conceptualized, but that the

1193
00:56:23,600 --> 00:56:26,040
Speaker 2: Sith came up with, and it kind of all comes

1194
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:29,560
Speaker 2: together in that in that particular movie. So of all

1195
00:56:29,560 --> 00:56:31,920
Speaker 2: the of all the the prequel trilogy, I think I

1196
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:34,200
Speaker 2: would say Revenge of the Sith is my favorite. But again,

1197
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:39,439
Speaker 2: I've done deep dive summaries and reviews of all those

1198
00:56:39,440 --> 00:56:42,279
Speaker 2: books I just mentioned, and basically every piece of Star

1199
00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:45,120
Speaker 2: Wars content on my Two Sons podcast with my buddy Luke.

1200
00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:47,320
Speaker 2: I'm also going to be doing every episode of The

1201
00:56:47,360 --> 00:56:49,040
Speaker 2: Acolyte when it comes out, which is less than a

1202
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:51,080
Speaker 2: month from now, So make sure you guys head over

1203
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:53,040
Speaker 2: there and subscribe to that channel so you guys can

1204
00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:56,160
Speaker 2: see some of that content in the future. All right, guys,

1205
00:56:56,320 --> 00:56:59,040
Speaker 2: let's call it a night. We're just gonna run a

1206
00:56:59,040 --> 00:57:03,319
Speaker 2: breakout of the the mail Bag tomorrow morning, so there

1207
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:06,440
Speaker 2: will be some content tomorrow morning between the other segments

1208
00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:08,360
Speaker 2: we did tonight. But I'm not gonna do a show

1209
00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:10,920
Speaker 2: like a new show in the morning. I'll just see

1210
00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:14,080
Speaker 2: you guys after the final buzzer of Nuggets Wolves tomorrow night.

1211
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:16,120
Speaker 2: I think Denver is gonna go in there and win

1212
00:57:16,840 --> 00:57:20,000
Speaker 2: and in complete the Gangster Suite. But we will see

1213
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:21,680
Speaker 2: what happens, and I will see you guys live on

1214
00:57:21,720 --> 00:57:47,400
Speaker 2: YouTube tomorrow night. The Volume